The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1887-04-03
LABOR IN LOCAL POLITICS.
WHAT THE UNITED LABOR PARTY
EXPECTS no DO THIS SPRING.

to Get Fifteen Thousand Votes for
Their Cnndidates-Sec. Devlin's Story.
Secretary Devlin, with two or three
young fellows was in the carpeted and
eurtained room of Phoenix Hall on Ply
mouth street near Warren, which is tn Q
campaign Headquarters of the United La
bor Party, when reporter of the SUNDAY
MORNING News entered Friday evening.
he was in quest of information for the
readers of the NEWS, and they were
talking politics around a red hot stove.
The colored Financial Secretary smoked
clay pipe at the table, near by, and Sec.
rotary Devlin, when he learned the mission
of the reporter, took off his coat SO as to
be in condition to wrestle comfortably with
the subject
'.Now" said the reporter, sstell me in what
interest the United Labor Party is making
its fight"
Sin the interest of honest government"
exclaimed AIRED faced agitator, who sat by
before Secretary Devlin had an opportun-
ity to make a reply. He spoke with o
pomp that rather justified the reporter in
believing that he carried the "United La
Dor Party around in his breeches pocket
'sThats good thing to have" yentured
the newspaper man, ''but how are you going
to get III"
s'By the election of honest men" came
another pompous answer from the same
re6-faced individual.
That was kind of sumner, and the re-
porter started in to find out what was the
standard of candidacy in the United Labor
Party. Was man necessarily honest be-
cause he was a laboring man? Or wasn't it
necessary to be laboring man to be can
didate? And if other than laboring men
could be put in nomination, against whom
or what class was the line drawn? Secre-
tary Deylin, with less pomp and more
courtesy, gave the reporter intelligent an
swers to these questions.
"The nominating conventions" he said
smust be made up Of actual and active
sons of toll. They can be trusted to put
emily the true friends of labor ia nomina-
tons; and we require of our candidates
that they shall be true friends of labor.
They need not be laborers in he sense
that we understand that term; but they
must be true friends of the workingmen."
'.Do you exclude any classes p
swell, we won't have lawyers under any
circumstances. They split hairs too finely
to be just We do not exclude active poll
tieians of other parties, but they must for
swear their allegiance to the old parties,
and be with US, if we take them at all and
we are not partial to them"
''Any one else excluded? pursued the
reporter.
eyes," replied the Secretary, sssaloon
keepers are ruled out. Jersey City has
had her politics run long enough BY the sa-
loon keepers. They fill most of the city
offices and mould the city's policy. We
want to give Jersey City a sober as well as
an honest administration; and SO we will
not permit any saloon keeper to be upon
our tickets
'sThat I may judge of the power that
stands behind these reforms" the reporter
asked ssmay know what the United Labor
Party represents
1--WE represent 1877 labor organization all
over the country the Secretary answered
ssAveraging them at 100 each, there are
1900 men, most of them voters, at our
back. Delegates from these organizations
form the Hudson County Labor Convention
that mst and organized for political pur-
poses at humboldt Hall, on Friday Febru-
airy IS They elected Dennis Mullins,
President; r. j. Allen, Vice; Frank
Devlin. Secretary; James Bonner, Finan-
cial Secretary, and e. R.
Vessels, Treasurer. These dele
gates appointed a County Commit
tee of one delegate from each election pre-
:
associate with him ten laboring men from
his precinct to look after the Labor Party's
political interests in that precinct. These
eleven from each precinct in a district
meet together and become nominating
convention. These conventions have been
held in all the districts in the county, ex
cept, perhaps, the Ninth-which is Hobo
Remand they have put complete tickets
in the field. The First district convention,
for instance, consisted of n delegates, be-
cause there are seven precincts. The at
tendance at the district conventions this
year has been full, showing the interest
woIkiugmen take in the movement. A
rule we have imposed, too, is that no man
who is a delegate to a convention can be
nominated to place within the gift of the
convention"
s.Now, tell me, the inquisitive reporter
went on. "what sire myth you expect to |
show in the approaching CANVASS"
Swell" the Secretary answered, eve do |
not expect to lose the vote of inge mem
Der OF any of the trade organizations, and |
5000 is a reasonable estimate of our |
strength. In the Fall we shall be M re |
fully equipped for the fight, and we expect
to elect our candidate for Sheriff. We will |
cut into both parties consid srably-the |
Dsmoci ats in some districts, the Republic |
cans in others-but on the whole more,
probably, into the Democratic than into |
the Republican ranks. Some of our can
didates have been endors 3D. Others will |
probably be endorsed by one of the big |
parties Our candid ttes are some of them |
old-time Republicans; others ara old time |
Democrats.
"Do you expect to achieve any results
this Sprue?"
'Do VIZ? / guess yes. In Bayonue we
expect to elect our candidate Recorder I
In this city we expect to elect Haw aims to
the Police Board, and W. A Greenwood /
Alderman in the First. District Green
wood is printer. He has the Prohibition